Wireless oscillator.



H. P. DWYER.

WIRELESS OSCILLATOR,

APPLIGATIOI! FILED AUG. 5, 1912.

Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

INVENTOR I AC 4W Z7711 'MM ATTORNEY WITNESSES HENRY P. DWYER, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO DWYER WIRELESS TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A COR- PORATION OF DELAWARE.

WIRELESS OSCILLATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. s, rare.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY P. DWYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at San- Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Wireless Oscillators, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to animproved oscillator for generating electromagnetic waves for use in wireless telegraphy, telephony, and for all other purposes for which said waves can be employed.

The object of my invention is to provide such an oscillator which will generate undamped electric oscillations of great length, and which will be practically free from interruptions or discontinuity.

In the accompanying drawing, the figure is a vertical sectional View of myimproved oscillator.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates a chamber, through a bearing 2 in the upper portion of a wall of which can slide a horizontal portion 3 of a carrier 4, the inner end of the horizontal portion being connected to the upper end of a vertical portion-6 the lower portion of which is connected to" one end of a horizontal member 7, on the other end of which is carried a rotatable ring 8, in which are a suitable number, as four, of tubular cathode holders 9 supporting horizontally extending cylindrical hollow cathodes 11, preferably formed of aluminum. Adjacent to the cathode surface of the lowermost of these cathodes is the surface of a cylindrical anode 12, which is in the form of a tube of copper or other suitable conductor, passing through a bearing 13 in a lower portion of the wall of the chamber. A tube 14 extends centrally and longitudinally through 19 also connects the bottom of the chamber 1 the chamber 1 above the liquid level, from which joint depends a pipe 35, the lower portion of which passes within the hollow v cathode in use, so that cold alcohol flowing out of the open lower end of said pipe 35 .discharges against the rear or inner surface of the cathode and then flows out at its rear end into the chamber 1. The chamber 1 is filled nearly up to the level of the horizontal portion 3 of the holder with the before-mentioned liquid. Said tubes 12 and carrier 4 are connected to opposite sides of the circuit through the oscillator by means of binding posts 20, 21, respectively. The interior of said tube 12 is maintained cool by the circulation of cold water entering said tube by a water inlet pipe 24 leading almost to the extreme inner end thereof, the water escaping from said pipe by a water outlet conduit 25 connected with the outer end of said tube 12. 26 indicates a brine coil in the upper portion of the chamber 1, below the level of the alcohol, suitably connected outside said chamber to a .source of supply of brine, so that the brine is maintained in constant circulation in said coil.-

To strike the are between the anode and cathode, there is provided upon the horizontal portion 3 of the carrier 4, outside the chamber 1, a collar 27 secured by a set screw 28, and having outwardly extending pins 29, which are engaged by the grooved ends of a yoke 31, formed in an end of a lever 32, pivoted upon a suitable'base 33. Against said lever can press a stem 34, passing through the wall 36 of the oscillator chamber, and formed at the outer end with a push knob 37.

Through said lever 32 passes a horizontal said spring 43, the carrier can likewise be pushed inward, and the cathode can be brought in contact with the anode, and the through which the are between the ano e and cathode can be inspected.

-In order to withdraw one cathode when I worn out by use and to substitute a new cathode, there is secured to the disk 8 a beveled gear 48, which meshes with a bevel gear 49 on a shaft 51 guided in bearings 52 on the vertical portion 6 of the carrier. The upper end of said shaft carries a bevel gear 53, which meshes with a bevel gear 54, upon the end of a shaft 56 extending centrally through the horizontal portion 3 of the carrier, to the outer end thereof, and having at- I tached to its end a crank arm 57, by which, after the tube 35 has been withdrawn from the hollow cathode, which can be done by means of a link 40 attached to the upper end of an arm 50 rotatable with the depending pipe 35, said link 40 passing through the wall 36, said cathode may be turned, thereby also revolving the cathode carrier so as to bring the next cathode into the proper position opposite to the anode. The tube 35 is then moved back into place in said cathode. The gearing is preferably such that one revolution of the crank arm is just sufficient to bring the succeeding cathode into such position.

The are obtained by my oscillator through a liquid such as alcohol changes its position between the electrodes with each passage of the arc, always shifting in a counter-clockwise direction looking from the anode to the cathode, the shift being through a substantially uniform distance in each case, so

that in course of time, say, about a week, the

cathode is covered with minute pits or indentations of practically uniform depths. From my observations the shift of the path of the arc is always to the left and through a substantially uniform distance, and I believe that this phenomenon is related to the fact that alcohol is an optically active liquid. Of course, good results cannot be obtained with an electrolytic liquid, which is not a dielectric, and such optically inactive dielectric liquids as water and oil give very poor results. While by an experimental plant in San Francisco perfect wireless telephonic communication has been maintained with Los Angeles, a distance of 490 miles, for a' continuous run of 6 hours without fading, or frying, using alcohol, such liquids as oil and water, with the same apparatus, gave dampened oscillations, so that scarlclely an intelligible sound was heard at a The arc is not a true vapor arc, such as is observed between carbons in air or gas, but is more like a convective or brush discharge of extremely high frequency.

A long series of experiments has demonstrated that a direct current of six and a half amperes on five hundred volts can be maintained through four arcs of this character in series using alcohol with a drop of but forty volts, or ten volts to an arc. The arc therefore generates but little heat, and but a small current of water circulating in my positive electrode keeps the electrode cool and the liquid temperature extremely low, the negative electrode "showing 11 signs of heat and but little wear.

I regard the utility of my oscillator as being due, in a great measure, to the central discharge of cold alcohol upon the surfaces of the cathode, the alcohol being also maintained cold by the circulation of brine in the brine pipes. This impact of cold alcohol upon the surfaces of the cathode, and the passage thereof between the anode and cathode, serve to maintain the electrodes always at the necessary low temperature required for the most edective discharge of the arc.

A further important effect of the flow of the alcohol between the electrodes is to remove from that region any metallic particles which may be removed from the electrodes by the passage of the are, thereby maintaining the oscillations of reliable uniformity.

I claim 1. An oscillator comprising a liquid, electrodes immersed therein, one of said electrodes having an aperture and the other having a surface opposite to said aperture and means for producing a continuous flow of said liquid through said aperture.

2. An oscillator comprising alcohol, electrodes immersed therein, one of said electrodes having an aperture and the other having a surface opposite said aperture, and means for producing a continuous flow of alcohol through said aperture.

3. An oscillator comprising alcohol, electrodes having electrode surfaces immersed therein, one of said electrode surfaces having an aperture opposite to the center of the other electrode surface, and means for producing a continuous How of said alcohol through said aperture.

4:. An oscillator comprising a liquid, elec trodes having electrode surfaces immersed therein, one of said electrode surfaces having an aperture opposite to the center of the other electrode surface, means for producing a continuous flow of said liquid through said aperture against the nearer surface of said other electrode, and for producing a continuous flow of said liquid against its other surface.

5. An oscillator comprising an optically active liquid, electrodes having electrode surfaces immersed therein, one of said electrode surfaces having an aperture opposite to the center of the other electrode surface, means for producing a continuous flow of said liquid through said aperture, and means for cooling said liquid.

6. An oscillator comprising alcohol, electrodes having electrode surfaces immersed therein, one of said electrode surfaces having an aperture opposite to the center of the other electrode surface, means for producing a continuous flow of said liquid through said aperture against the nearer surface of said other electrode, and for producing a continuous flow of said liquid against its other surface.

7. An oscillator comprising alcohol, electrodes having electrode surfaces immersed therein, one of said electrode surfaces having an aperture opposite to the center of the other electrode surface, means for producing a continuous flow of said alcohol through said aperture, and means for cooling said alcohol.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY P. DVVYER.

Witnesses:

F. M. WRIGHT, D. B. RICHARDS. 

